Hawaii is the number 1 consumer of SPAM in the United States… Apparently, Hawaiians love their potted meat. I have to admit, back in the days when I was growing up I looooved when my grandma made for us Spam sandwiches with mayo on criollo bread. That was a treat we only ate while on vacations.

Now… my tastes have changed. And while I wanted to bring a traditional and authentic take of a Hawaiian Luau to my Yogi friends, I also wanted to make it accessible to everyone. Some of us have access to good vegetarian “hams”, but I figured that eggplant is something most of you will be able to get and will not cringe when you read it on a recipe. The teriyaki marinade is what will bring it all together in true Hawaiian musubi fashion.

This recipe is a tad long… but there are just 3 main steps – 1. cook the rice, 2. cook the eggplant, 3. assemble the musubi. So don’t be overwhelmed by it all. I used two small plastic containers of the same size that can fit one inside the other to form my musubi. There are musubi contraptions, but I could not find one for the life of me in Puerto Rico. Once you get the hang of it… it will be a breeze.

First, cook the rice… I use a rice cooker, but you can do it on the stove top if you prefer. The idea is to cook the rice thoroughly but that it’s a tad sticky. Not fluffy for sure. Although by using short grain rice you get that consistency inherently.

Cook the rice without oil, just a light sprinkling of salt. In a measuring cup mix together the rice vinegar, the 3 tbs of brown sugar and salt. Set aside. After the rice is cooked, transfer to a plastic or wooden bowl to cool completely. While rice is still hot, drizzle the vinegar/brown sugar mixture over the rice to season. Set aside for the rice to cool completely.

Secondly, we season the eggplant… Using a mandolin or a very sharp knife, slice eggplant in thin, ¼ inch slices. In a large flat container mix together the marinade for the eggplant – soy sauce, brown sugar, grated garlic and ginger. Mix together well to make sure the sugar dissolves well in the soy sauce. Add the eggplant slices to the marinade, making sure all sides of eggplant are coated with the marinade. Marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet or griddle and pan-fry the marinated eggplant slices until caramelized, about 2 minutes on each side. As you cook the eggplant slices, set aside on a baking sheet.

So now… we assemble the musubi. Moisten your hands with water. It will help with the rice not sticking as much to your fingers while you’re assembling. Take about 2 tbs or rice into the bottom of the plastic container. Sprinkle lightly some black sesame gomasio as seasoning over the rice. Place a piece of eggplant over the rice. Fold the eggplant slice if it’s necessary to fit into the small plastic container. With the secong plastic container press the eggplant/rice tower to form a compact package. Using a sharp knife separate the rice/eggplant for the edges and flip over and tap on a cutting board for the rice/eggplant to release from the container.

Wrap with a thin strip of nori. The nori sheets come scored in strips, we cut each of those strips in half, to make them yiled more strips for sheet.

Musubi tastes best the same day it is made. Never refrigerate because the cold makes the rice hardens and it’s not very nice to eat.

As you can see, the recipe has a few steps, but it’s not very difficult to make. And when you get the hang of making the musubi, it becomes kinda like an assembly line. I want to thank Jesús Omar for being my musubi assistant the day we had to make 50+ musubis for the Hawaiian Vegetarian Festival. The crowd was surprised they were eating “vegetarian sushi” for the first time.

Next time, I will definitely try to make this with what they call “sham spam”… my version, of course. Stay tuned.

Cocina Abierta is not a vegetarían restaurant… we still have a great opportunity for Vegetarian Fine Dining in Puerto Rico. But Martin has certainly captured my attention developing new dishes and adapting several true and tried favorites to create a vegetarian tasting menu fit for celebrations, to take vegetarian friends when they travel to Puerto Rico and when you want to enjoy truly good cooking overall.

If you ignore the smells of grilled steaks coming from the kitchen… you will find Cocina Abierta has a great ambiance and atmosphere. Their menu is divided into ACTS, like a play, but we only ordered from the Vegetarian side concert. I took my friend Andrew, who was visiting Puerto Rico for work. Aside from the Yoga Center cooking, he had not had the chance to experience fine dining in Puerto Rico.

We ordered:

Baby Arugula Salad with Almond-Stuffed Dates and Caramelized Onions

Eggplant Mignon over a bed of Curried Couscous

Ricotta Gnocchi with Blue Cheese and Arugula

Gelatos – Salted Caramel and Strawberry Flavors

OMG!!!! What an awesome experience we had!!! We shared everything because we wanted to taste as many things we could… I would have ordered another salad just for me… not because the serving was small, but because it was so delicious.

The Eggplant Mignon is something I would rarely order in a restaurant, yet I was very surprised to taste the flavors of India in a very refined manner, suitable for the Western taste buds. I am not too fond of Indian cooking and I enjoyed this very much…

The gnocchi are so rich and delicious… it was a good thing we shared. Because if not, I would have eaten the whole thing by myself and would have been counting the amount of calories for days.

The gelatos were spectacular, in particular the salted caramel one… with pieces of caramel inside. It was heaven on a plate. I may just go back and sit at their Dessert Bar just to have the salted caramel ice cream. Move over Mango Sorbet from Hagen Dasz, there’s a new frozen dessert in town!!!

I want to thank Martin and the whole Cocina Abierta team for a wonderful evening… our waitress Mari Carmen was a joy and made our dining experience all the better. When you have someone serving you who’s super excited about the food… it gets you excited too. We were very happy and Andrew even mentioned he might return again when his next business trip takes him back to San Juan.

I am glad I have an alternative to offer friends and people who ask on tour FB page – “Where can I eat in PR if I am vegetarian???” There’s no need to suffer or put your lifestyle aside if you’re traveling to Puerto Rico.

I vaguely remembered what I did the initial time I made it. So who knows, maybe I did came up with THIS version after all.

Eggplant and Goat Cheese Bake

1 medium eggplant, find one as light as possible, peeled and diced1 pint of grape tomatoes, divided, all cut in half1 tbs of dried basil, I use freeze dried2 cloves of garlic, minced4 ounces of goat cheeseOlive OilSalt and Pepper to taste¼ cup Parmesan cheese, optionalBrown Rice Fettuccini, I use Tinkyada brand

In an oven-proof dish place all the diced eggplant pieces. Drizzle with olive oil, minced garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss all to combine well.

Add over the eggplant half of the grape tomatoes that you’ve cut in half already. Leave aside the rest of the tomatoes.

Sprinkle the dried basil over the tomatoes. Add the goat cheese inc crumbles over the tomatoes. Drizzle a final stream of olive oil over everything and a last sprinkle of salt and pepper to make sure everything is well seasoned.

4. Place in a 375F oven for about 40 minutes. Turn off the oven.

5. Boil water to make the pasta according to the package directions. I use Brown Rice pasta, but you can use your favorite brand/kind

6. Drain the pasta, return to the pot and add the eggplant bake. Mix well to combine. Add Parmesan cheese, if using. Add the fresh tomatoes you set aside earlier. This adds an element of freshness that contrasts really nice with the creaminess of the baked eggplant.

Serve with your favorite salad and baked plantains on the side… This is so easy to make ahead and just re-heat when you’re boiling the pasta. Easy dinner without a lot of tending to it.

Now, look at the Eggplant, Avocado and Pear… they’re all shaped like a WOMB. So according to this theory they’re good for feminine health, for the womb and cervix. To be honest, I searched and searched the internet to find data that supported this theory… I couldn’t find anything specific to womb or cervix.

However, I did find some interesting facts important to women’s health and issues over all:

According to some internet research, avocados are great for our sex drive because they contain high levels of folic acid to help metabolize proteins giving you an energy boost. They are also known to benefit a women’s libido due to the high potassium content. That potassium content also helps with fatigue, depression and poor digestion.

Avocados are a complete food, providing fat, protein and carbohydrate – every vegetarian’s dream! They contain healthy fats we could all do with in our diets. But the fat is GOOD fat; in the form of monosaturated. They contain good levels of vitamin B6 to help you fight stress and give you the energy to keep going.

Avocados are excellent for the skin. Research shows that substances in the pulp of avocados appear to trigger DNA to produce more embryonal collagen – the soluble kind we start our lives with, producing smooth and supple skins.

Pears are a good source of Vitamin C and copper, both are antioxidant nutrients that protect the body against free-radicals and aging. They’re also a good source of fiber to help regularity and lowers cholesterol levels. Fiber also binds to cancer-causing chemicals in the colon, preventing them from damaging colon cells. A study in postmenopausal women showed a 34% reduction in breast cancer risk for those consuming the most fruit fiber compared to those consuming the least.

Eggplants contain powerful antioxidants too. They help letting nutrients in and wastes out, especially in brain cells. They also help to relax blood vessels, improve blood flow and reduce cholesterol levels, particularly if taken in juice form. Even the National Diabetes Education Program, Mayo Clinic and American Diabetes Association recommend an eggplant based diet as a choice for management of type 2 diabetes.

Eggplant has been found to be especially useful in the treatment of colon cancer due to the high amount of fiber found within eggplant. But, the fiber found in eggplant has other uses–like helping people lose weight. Eggplant keeps dieters feeling full for a longer period of time and prevents from being as tempted to snack between meals.. Eggplants are filled with water and it’s important in the maintenance of healthy skin and hair.

Here are some recipes to help you increase your eggplant, avocado and pear intake:

Like this:

My friend Tania visited Paraguay for the first time about 6-7 years ago. During that first trip she learned from our Yoga friends over there how to make Eggplant Milanese using cornstarch and oatmeal as the breading. We all loved the fried eggplants when she first made them at the Yoga Center.

Flash forward to March 2012… here you have Yazmín and I making Eggplant Milanese in Paraguay. Not helping them make them… noooo, making them ourselves to treat everyone after our short retreat near Asunción.

How dare we come and cook something for them that they actually taught us how to make??? We are daring indeed…

Something I have learned over the years I’ve known how to make these Eggplant Milaneses:

No need to actually use a mandolin. They actually come out better when cut not as thin. After a nasty mandolin accident making these milaneses at home recently, I now cut them with a knife and they come out even better than with a mandolin even if they’re a tad uneven.

No need to marinate for a long time. Soy sauce is fine, but you can only marinate for about 30 minutes and you’ll be fine. A tad of sesame oil adds a nice twist too. And when they marinate less, your end up with a juicier fried eggplant.

Season the milk and the oatmeal very well before breading the eggplants. When the milk and the oatmeal are well-seasoned, it compensates for the short marinating time. Add generous amounts of powdered garlic, salt, paprika, pepper… your choices are endless.

I’ve been having cravings for these eggplants since I left Asunción. Time to run to the store and make some more…

Thanks Tania and the great cooks in Paraguay for their wonderful culinary inspiration always!!!!